SPECIAL UNIT FIGHTS METH ON MANY FRONTS

Last year, the 13th District Drug Task Force was awarded a $500,000 federal
grant to fight the growing problem of methamphetamine in this area. While
that's a lot of money, it's nothing in comparison to how much it is
beginning to cost for society to deal with all the consequences of meth
abuse, officials say.

Meth is a drug that hooks 99 percent of users the first time they use it,
and it leads to mental illness, brain damage, and death in many cases,
according to District Attorney Bill Gibson.

The addiction is so sudden and so severe that the threat of prosecution and
jail time makes no difference to users, the DA said.

"They say it takes a full year just to 'dry' a meth addict out and that you
can't even start to rehab him until that period is over, and meth addicts
who lose their children over their habit don't even care about that loss,"
said Cookeville Police Chief Bob Terry.

"The idea of going to jail is not a deterrent to meth addicts because their
brains are so damaged they can't comprehend that in jail they won't be able
to get the drug," said Gibson.

So while half a million dollars to fight the problem in this judicial
district is certainly going to help, it's just a start and using that money
wisely is job number one, say Gibson and Terry, both of whom serve on the
Drug Task Force board.

"Just going out there and making arrests is not going to make a lot of
difference, at least not until laws get changed," said Gibson. "That's why
we have taken a multi-pronged approach to the fight."

Their goals range from prevention through public awareness to bringing about
new state laws that could make a difference.

They started by forming a "SMART" unit at the Drug Task Force, a name that
means Stop Meth Abuse In Rural Tennessee.

They hired an investigator/coordinator to keep up with all the cases and
help officers get their meth cases to court. Dolores Gibson holds that
position.

They also hired a full-time meth case prosecutor, and that is Assistant
District Attorney Gary McKenzie.

And they are putting a substantial amount of time, money, and work into
training police officers to handle meth cases properly and into the
prevention side of the problem, including trying to get new state laws on
the books and simply trying to inform the public of "how this drug impacts
people," as Chief Terry put it.

"We are getting ready for a training session in April in which 40 officers
from this district will become certified to handle meth lab investigations,
making sure that all environmental and safety regulations are met when a lab
is discovered," said Dolores Gibson.

"Officers working these cases are at great risk, not just from the chemicals
and fumes, but from meth abusers who may be very paranoid and may have guns
due to that paranoia," she said.

The SMART unit is also working with the Business Media Center at Tennessee
Tech to produce a CD rom containing all sorts of information on the meth
problem.

That and other training and education materials being developed will be
distributed to schools, to motel owners (who sometimes unwittingly rent
rooms to meth cookers), and to businesses, health care agencies, and other
organizations needing to know more about the problem of meth.

The SMART unit is also studying the problem of creating laws adequate to
deal with the meth problem.

"The whole justice system is weak when it comes to the meth problem," DA
Gibson said.

Among the justice system problems:

* Meth is cheap and easy to make from ingredients commonly used for other
purposes, thus making it harder for law officers to catch someone "growing"
or "importing" an illegal drug.

* Meth cookers usually get addicted quickly and instead of selling the drug
just consume it themselves, becoming "their own best customers," as Chief
Terry put it, and also making it hard for undercover cops to infiltrate an
operation.

* Sometimes the evidence in a meth case (chemicals, etc.) is so dangerous it
can't be brought into a courtroom, thus requiring detailed video taping and
photographing at the scene before hazardous materials cleanup specialists
remove the items.

* State lawmakers, due to budget constraints, are reluctant to make new laws
that will increase jail time, which is costly to taxpayers.

"We want to take the time to do research and study all possibilities on what
would be best in the way of new laws," DA Gibson said.

SMART Coordinator Dolores Gibson said she will be keeping close track of all
the unit's work, documenting cases, trends, and results so that "we can
apply for grant funds next year to continue this project."

She said one major goal that interests her especially is to make sure
citizens of this area realize "the extent of the problem." She wants
everyone to know just what bad things can happen to meth users.

She recounts some of the horror stories she has encountered in training
sessions she has attended:

"At one conference, we listened to a businessman who did manage to kick his
meth habit -- but not before losing his business, his family, and basically,
his mind.

"It was as if his brain was dead. You could ask him a question, but you had
to repeat it over and over. He couldn't get it."

At another conference, she heard about a school teacher who had tried meth
because someone told her it would give her lots of energy for doing her
housework and other chores.

"She found it was an energizer all right -- but she got addicted, lost
everything, and went to prison."

And officials working with the meth problem in some areas have reported
instances of teenaged girls trying meth as a way to lose weight, Gibson
said.

For these and hundreds of other good reasons, the SMART unit hopes to get
funded for years to come in order to fight the meth curse.

And they have high praise for Congressmen Bart Gordon and Lincoln Davis for
helping this area get the grant and for State Senator Charlotte Burks, who
is working to make new state laws to deal with the meth problem.